OTTAWA — The Conservative government has launched a public relations advertising offensive on American lawmakers ahead of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s trip this week to New York, selling Canada as an environmental leader in hopes of winning U.S. political support for the Keystone XL oilsands pipeline.

The federal government ran ads Monday in Washington D.C. newspapers, along with the launch of a new government website, trumpeting Canada as a reliable energy supplier to the United States and “world environmental leader” on oil and gas development.

The ads appeared in Politico and The Hill, popular reads for lobbyists and decision makers on Capitol Hill, and will also appear in other publications such as the Washington Post, the New Republic, CQ Weekly and Roll Call. The ads will also run on several news websites and various bus shelters on or near Capitol Hill.

The advertising campaign, spearheaded by Natural Resources Canada, will run for 30 days, with the government releasing the full cost once the campaign is completed.

Natural Resources Canada is planning to spend at least $16.5 million on advertising this year, including $12 million in new cash requested last week for its ongoing “responsible resource development” campaign.

The U.S. ads were launched in conjunction with a new government website — www.gowithcanada.ca — that highlights facts on the $5.3-billion Keystone XL pipeline that would transport 830,000 barrels of oil a day primarily from Alberta’s oilsands to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

The website also highlights Canada’s long-standing relationship with the U.S., as well as efforts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing oil and gas in an environmentally responsible manner.

“America faces a choice: It can import oil from Canada — a secure and environmentally responsible neighbor that is committed to North American energy independence — or it can choose less stable offshore sources with much weaker environmental standards,” says the federal website.

“Canada is one of the few major suppliers of crude oil to the Gulf Coast taking concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,” it adds.

One ad features a picture of a lush tree-covered mountainside with wording noting: “America and Canada have the same greenhouse gas reduction targets,” of reducing GHGs 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Another ad features a team of workers piecing together chunks of pipeline, with the headline: “America and Canada: Standing together for energy independence.”

There’s also one featuring two young girls next to American and Canadian flags draped from windows, with the message: “America and Canada: friends, neighbors, allies.”

The Harper government says the TransCanada Keystone XL project is an important component of trying to increase pipeline capacity and getting western Canadian crude to market. Federal and provincial governments are losing billions of dollars a year because of an ongoing pipeline squeeze.

A glut of oil from multiple continental sources, including the Alberta oilsands, and an inability to move it to market due to pipeline bottlenecks is resulting in large discounts for western Canadian crude compared to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate and international Brent prices.

“What we want to do is get the facts out and get them out particularly to decision makers in the Washington area and American consumers,” Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said in an interview.

“We must protect and we must promote our resources,” he added.

Harper will participate in a question-and-answer session on Thursday in New York at the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S. think-tank, as well as take part in a roundtable with American business leaders.

It’s part of a federal government offensive to convince the Obama administration to approve the controversial Keystone XL oilsands pipeline, which has become a magnet of criticism for environmental groups over the oilsands’ impact on greenhouse gas emissions and potential ecological damage from any pipeline spill.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce a final decision on the project later this year.

“We certainly hope it would be this year. I would have hoped it would be by early fall, but I don’t know for sure whether that’s going to happen,” Oliver said.

A steady flow of Canadian political leaders from Ottawa, Alberta and Saskatchewan have travelled to Washington in recent months to lobby lawmakers for the pipeline’s approval.

Danielle Droitsch, Canada Project director with the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council, said some of the Canadian government’s sales pitches contain misleading or incomplete information, and she questions their effectiveness.

“A glossy public relations campaign won’t undo the fact that Canada is set to miss its international climate target because of its tarsands industry, and the U.S. is looking good to meet its target,” Droitsch argued.

The federal pitch about relying on Canada for North American energy independence is a “false choice,” she said, because the U.S. will continue to import oil from other countries with or without the Keystone XL.

“I don’t think (the relationship) will crumble if the United States decides to deny one single pipeline,” she added.

Senior Parliament Hill reporter for the Ottawa Citizen, politics junkie, wannabe pro golfer and someone who has wordsmithed at newspapers in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. I've covered politics at... read more every level, including city hall in Ottawa and Calgary, the Alberta legislature in Edmonton and now back in Ottawa covering the Hill.View author's profile